By Jeff Slokum
It costs a lot to go to college or university and the increasingcosts have many wondering if there is real value to a collegeeducation. Is the cost of tuition, the time lost to full-timeemployment, and the thousands of dollars of debt worth theinvestment? Those are good questions and the answers may lie ina review of the value of a college education and rates of returnon investment to both the individual and to society.
On the financial side of the equation there is significant datato suggest that on average and over time a college graduate willearn a great deal more than a high school graduate. The UnitedStates Census bureau estimates that over a lifetime a collegegraduate will earn on average about $2.1 million dollarscompared to an average lifetime income of $1.2 million dollarsfor a high school graduate.
Compared with the cost of attending a four year publicuniversity of college at an average of about $10,000 per yearand even adding the cost of lost working time, it is clearly offinancial value to attend university.
But college graduates also enjoy other benefits in addition tothe possibility of increased earning power. In 1998 theInstitute for Higher Education Policy published a report thatstated that people who completed a college or university programexperienced a number of ancillary benefits. They included higherlevels of saving, increased personal/professional mobility,improved quality of life for their offspring, better consumerdecision making, and more hobbies and leisure activities.
Another report published by the Carnegie Foundation noted someother benefits of higher education that included the tendencyfor postsecondary students to become more open-minded, morecultured, more rational, more consistent and less authoritarianand that these benefits are also passed along to succeedinggenerations.
A college education can even improve your health and a number ofresearch studies have shown positive correlation betweencompletion of higher education and good health, not only foroneself, but also for one's children.
There is also benefit and value to the public from highereducation. According to the Institute for Higher Education thesebenefits include increased tax revenues, greater workplaceproductivity, increased consumption, increased workforceflexibility, and decreased reliance on government financialsupport.
So it appears that even after rigorous scientific review andanalysis there is still much value in a college education. But Ithink we knew that all along
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